Report on green nod for realty projects untraceable

The RTI had also asked for a report submitted by an expert group in 1989 which had recommended that building and real estate projects be brought under environment impact assessment (EIA) process.Jayashree Nandi | TNN | Updated: October 26, 2016, 09:06 IST

File photoNEW DELHI: The environment ministry has said that a report reviewing the requirement of environment clearance for real estate projects and buildings is now “not traceable.” This reply was given on an RTI enquiry filed in July that had asked for a copy of a committee report headed by K Kasturirangan, member, Planning Commission in 2013.

The RTI had also asked for a report submitted by an expert group in 1989 which had recommended that building and real estate projects be brought under environment impact assessment (EIA) process. But this too is not traceable according to the ministry. The RTI applicant had subsequently approached the appellate authority who had directed the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) to find out the availability of the report and reply to the appellant within a week’s time. With regard to the copy of the expert group report of 1989, efforts be made to locate the file and findings be informed. But until now the RTI applicant hasn’t received any details on these reports

The K Kasturirangan committee was constituted in 2012 to assess the need for environment impact assessment (EIA) for buildings and real estate projects. The committee had recommended that building and real estate projects should be under the purview of EIA as their construction has environmental impacts. It also recommended that the state expert appraisal committee (SEAC) make their recommendations on the projects coming to them within 60 days to avoid any delay.

Some committee members said even they didn’t have copies of the report. “I do not have the report. I am not able to recollect whether there was a soft copy,” said Balasubramaniam, from Administrative Staff College and a committee member. SP Bansal, former commissioner, planning, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) another committee member said “I have now moved to Gwalior and I do not have the copy. I was strongly of the view that EIA process should not be compromised for real estate projects. I am all for decentralization of power but don’t think local bodies are competent to review environmental impacts and ethically address them.”

Ministry constitutes committee

Both the reports sought under RTI are relevant now because environment ministry plans to take building and real estate projects out of the EIA purview. The ministry came out with a draft notification in April 2016 which said that building and real estate projects need not go through the EIA process if the state is willing to adopt certain environmental conditions in their building bye-laws. The draft notification also stated that urban local bodies such as development or municipal authorities will certify compliance to these environmental parameters.

This draft notification however was never published on the ministry website. Now the ministry has constituted a four member committee to consider the objections or suggestions from people on the draft notification and finalise it.

“I agree that urban local bodies are not competent to assess environmental impact. But they can be made competent. The government can be advised to first ensure that local bodies are made competent and look at environmental aspects of real estate and buildings. We can tell you that the current centralized EIA process isn’t working because there is no monitoring on the ground. There is severe corruption in the centralized process too,” said a committee member on condition of anonymity.

TOI had sought the environment ministry’s comments last Friday both the missing reports and the new committee that has reviewed the ministry’s draft notification but hasn’t received any reply yet.